It was October when I finally decided to register my trade name. Deciding on the name of your business is a pretty important milestone in the entrepreneurial journey. It’s supposed to represent your products, your values and your vision for the future. Searching online, I found a bajillion articles explaining how crucial it was to choose the right name. With so much on the line, why wouldn’t you take the time to meticulously craft your public identity?
Because it’s paralyzing, that’s why. Obsessing over a name will kill your momentum and you’ll become frustrated over why you haven’t made progress. For example, I have a friend who is on the verge of launching a music composition business. He’s written great songs, did his own cover art and laid the foundation for his website, so why hasn’t he released his music yet? “I just can’t seem to come up with a name that really speaks to me,” he says.
In my honest opinion, I don’t think the name matters that much. What matters is your product and whether or not it’s something people want to use. Some of the biggest companies in the world have names that don’t make sense to me. Pepsi? I have no clue what a Pepsi is, but I know I love the drink. Facebook? It’s a book of faces! How original. But still, the company and the platform are so well known because nearly everyone in the world has used it at some point.
So when it came to deciding on the name for my business, my only concerns were making it somewhat unique and vaguely fantasy-ish. Once I had those two things, The Resplendent Cave was born and it was like the floodgates had been opened. I could now focus on what was really important - planning and running D&D events. By choosing not to obsess over the minute details, I was able to avoid losing precious momentum. My poor friend on the other hand, months later, is still in business name purgatory. In the time he spent mulling over it, customers could have listened to his music and provided valuable feedback.
So what do you do when you’ve decided on your name? In my province of Alberta, you head to your local registry office and choose from four types of business names, which are sole proprietorship, partnership, limited partnership and limited liability partnership. You can find more information on those types of categories on the albera.ca website.
In my case, I chose a sole proprietorship, since it’s the easiest to set up and what most entrepreneurs start with. The entire process was painless and easy. It took about 45 minutes to walk in, hand over my ID and tell the registry agent what my name was going to be. Once that was done, I happily walked out to celebrate the birth of my company!
So remember, don’t obsess over your business name because it’s not that important in the long run. What matters is moving forward, taking a chance and learning from the experience. The business name only represents what you do, and if what you do isn’t good, the name will never be good.
